4 Great National Park Vacations For Families

Take A Hike: Go On A National Park Family Vacation

If your family loves the great outdoors and you are in the planning stages for a family vacation, you may want to consider visiting one of America’s national parks. Vast acres of grand vistas await your exploration, and there is no doubt your family will come away with lifelong memories. Rising gas prices are a concern, but America’s national parks are scattered from coast to coast, making an economical vacation fairly within your reach. Every national park is worth visiting, but each of the following are unique in their own way and offer services that make a national park family vacation easy and enjoyable.

Yellowstone National Park Wyoming, Montana, Idaho

Yellowstone National Park has the distinction of being America’s first national park. Established in 1872, the park is home to the most famous geyser in the world, Old Faithful. According to the national park government website, Yellowstone rests on about half of the world’s hydrothermal features (10,000), including 300 geysers, on its 2.2 million acres. (nps.gov/yell/index.htm) With mountain ranges, waterfalls and a chance of running into a wolf or grizzly bear, it is truly the grandfather of all national parks.

Lodging — Within the park, visitors can choose from campgrounds, RV parks, rustic cabins, lodges, and luxury suites. To preserve its natural standards, the park does not allow smoking in any of its lodgings, nor does it provide air conditioning, internet hookups, televisions or radios. Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel is the only accommodation accessible by car open during the winter months.

National Park Tours — Tours are available throughout the park, but put these on your priority list: Old Faithful, Grand Canyon of Yellowstone, Hayden Valley, Mammoth Hot Springs and Yellowstone Lake. Rangers lead hikes or give talks; park-approved concessionaires lead photo or bike tours.

There are different varieties of tour transportation. You can choose to walk on a tour, ride horseback, ride a stagecoach or take a bus.

Activities — In more temperate weather, you can hike, fish, boat, paint, sketch, track, bird watch, spot wildlife and shop. For winter activities go cross-country skiing, snow shoeing, snowmobiling or ice skating. During all seasons, you can swim in the Boiling River, a runoff from one of the hot springs. (Swimming in other thermal pools is illegal.) Workshops and classes are available in photography, painting, tracking wildlife and many other naturalist-related subjects such as wolf behavior and wolf management.

Kid-friendly — Most national parks have what they call a Junior Ranger program for children ages 5-12 years old. For a minimal fee, each child receives an activity sheet listing the requirements for completing the program. Kid-friendly activities for Yellowstone include hiking a park trail, attending a ranger-led program as well as other requirements having to do with wildlife, geothermal geology and fire prevention. After a ranger approves the child’s work, each participant receives a Yellowstone Junior Ranger patch.

Yosemite National Park California

Yosemite National Park is famous for its waterfalls and giant sequoias. It is ideal for families because most of the grandest sights (Yosemite Valley, Glacier Point, Mariposa Grove of Giant Sequoias) are accessible by car.

Lodging — Of all national parks, Yosemite has the widest variety of lodging options. No matter where you choose to stay, visit the historic and famous Ahwahnee Hotel.

National Park Tours — Yosemite has the advantage of providing bus and interpretive ranger program tours year-round. The stagecoach tour is great if you and your family want to get a feel of the old west.

Activities — Swimming is allowed in most of Yosemite’s bodies of water and summer rafting on the Merced river is a popular activity. Horseback riding, fishing, skiing, rock climbing, biking, backpacking and hiking are all great activities to enjoy in the park.

Kid-friendly — Along with its national park Junior Ranger Program, Yosemite offers the Happy Isles Nature Center, where kids can enjoy interactive displays and get up close to the ranger’s horses. Children will also enjoy the Ahwahnee village, where they can observe traditions of the Miwok-Paiute community, such as beadwork, basket weaving, acorn grinding and games.

Acadia National Park Maine

Acadia National Park is smaller and less crowded than other parks mentioned here, but it is hugely popular and well worth a visit. Parents will love the endless carriage trails (suitable for strollers) and the miles of coastline where kids can explore tidal pools and occasionally spot sea life such as porpoises.

Lodging — The only accommodations within the park are camping sites. Consult the Acadia Information Center about lodging in nearby communities.

National Park Tours —You may walk, hike or ride a bus to tour Acadia National Park. Boat cruises and campfire tours are also available. Other walks and programs center around the wildlife at Acadia, such as the Beaver Trek, the Warbler Walk, and the “Seastars, Barnacles and Periwinkles— Oh my!” coastal walk.

Activities — Cadillac mountain, the tallest point on the Atlantic coast, has a 1/3-mile loop walking trail. Visit the Bass Harbor Head Lighthouse on the west side of Mount Desert Island. Stop by the Jordan Pond House for tea and popovers.

Kid-friendly — Acadia’s Junior Ranger Program is for kids ages 5-12, and is designed to take several days to complete. Acadia is also ideal for a day trip; there are plenty of fun things for kids, including a nature center, hands-on activities or the chance to dig their toes in the sand.

Great Smoky Mountains National Park Tennessee

The mountains may be smaller, but the beauty goes just as deep in the Smokies. With its rich historical and cultural heritage, the Great Smoky Mountains hold an endearing place in the hearts of many Americans. One of the greatest national parks in the U.S., the Greatk Smoky Mountains National Park boasts 800 miles of trails and the most diverse wildlife in the world’s temperate zone. Visit nps.gove/grsm/ for more information.

Lodging — The only lodging within the park is Le Conte Lodge. Getting there requires walking for about 5 miles up Mount Le Conte. This may or may not please you, depending on how much you appreciate a pristine environment within a national park. Plenty of lodging choices are available in the surrounding communities of North Carolina and Tennessee, including the tourist attractions of Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge.

National Park Tours — Rangers lead talks and walks through the park, but many people prefer to drive through on self-guided tours.

Be advised that some routes become very congested at certain times of the summer and fall. The Great Smoky Mountains National Park is the most visited national park in the United States, with approximately 8 to 10 million visitors per year, according to its official website.

Activities — Along with the usual hiking, biking, fishing and camping activities you will find at most national parks, the Great Smoky Mountains National Park offers nearly 80 historic structures (log cabins, schools, barns, grist mills), and an abundance of wildflowers throughout the warmer seasons.

Kid-friendly — Kids can join the Junior Rangers Program or attend classes at the Great Smoky Mountain Institute at Tremont. The Smoky Mountain Field School offers programs catered to families. Kids will also enjoy looking for salamanders or spotting a black bear.

Are you ready to plan your family vacation at one of these national parks? If you hate to plan or simply do not have the time, look into the national park vacation packages offered by park-approved concessionaires. Simply choose your favorite national park, visit their website through nps.gov and look for the lodging link. Everyone should experience at least one or even more national park. The only problem will be choosing which one to see first.

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